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However, some Windows fans took matters into their own hands when last Friday it was revealed that a build of the new browser - version 5299 - along with numerous screenshots, was available online.

Not that Microsoft had anything to do with the leak. Its involvement was limited to taking down the link to the code where it was posted on Windows techie forum JCXP.net. But that was not before several thousand expectant fans had got their browsers pointed at it.

Of equal concern to Microsoft may be the number of times the patch, which allows the IE7 build to be installed on pirate copies of Windows, has been downloaded - currently running at more than 12,000 times.

The screenshots certainly seem to show off the many new features expected of IE 7, with items such as tabbed browsing clearly visible. Likewise a number of the under-the-bonnet changes are also shown on some screenshots, such as the ability to delete browsing history.

This, coupled with Microsoft's actions, gives credulity to the belief that the release is genuine, although Redmond has yet to officially respond to the event.